Tag: Portland wedding planning

Debugging your wedding (Keeping insects away from the ceremony and reception)

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

This cool Portland summer has been lovely, but in some places, the dampness has led to an excess of bugs. Bug-off spray is a must at outdoor weddings, but here are a few  tips to make you the perfect wedding host:

– Avoid DEET-based sprays that can irritate skin. Lemongrass and geranium oil-based repellents are available and they smell much nicer.

– Transfer the insect repellent spray into nicer glass bottles before setting them out at your event. Empty glass spray bottles can usually be found in the bulk beauty aisle (lotions and soaps) of natural grocery stores such as Whole Foods and New Seasons. Wrap the bottle in a ribbon to match your scheme, and then it will be guest-book-table worthy.

(Vintage atomizers could be fun too!)

image from Polyvore

– Burning lemongrass torches or candles can keep bugs down in the immediate vicinity. Having gently-blowing oscillating fans can also help.

– If the area seems to be uncontrollably buggy, consider applying non-toxic lawn or yard insect treatments (some examples here and here) several hours or days prior to the wedding (get the permission of the venue owner first).

Portland wedding venues that might be off your radar

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

This just in on the desk, a couple of Portland area wedding venues you may not have thought of:

Mt. Hood Ski Bowl

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It’s a great place to snowboard, but have you ever wondered what’s up there in the summertime? From this picture on the Mt Hood Skibowl website, it looks like it would be a wonderfully scenic place for a wedding. Close by is lodging at Collins Lake Resort, so your out-of-towners could have a full weekend of outdoor activities at the mountain.

Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center

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Portland-reception-hall-350-capacity

I’ve driven by so many times but have never been inside, I confess. After receiving a mailer from them, I’m going to rectify my oversight soon! There are few non-hotel venues in Portland that can handle over 300 guests, and NWNCC is one of them. They also allow outside caterers. Bonus: It’s walking distance to several religious institutions such as Congregation Beth Israel, St. Mary’s Cathedral, and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, so members of those congregations may find it helpful that a unique and historic reception facility is close by.

Why a receiving line is a good idea

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

Why a receiving line is a good idea:

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Photo: Jessica Spengler

Receiving Lines: Do they bring to mind stuffy, overly-formal, laced up affairs from 1987?  Actually, a receiving line is a very good idea for several reasons.  Here’s why: it’s imperative that you personally greet each and every guest that comes to your wedding. They have taken off work, scheduled babysitters, and traveled from far and near to witness your big day. Don’t leave your guests hanging and yourself in a tizzy, wondering if you got to this group or that group.

In addition, leaving the guest-greeting to a casual time, such as the interval between dinner and dancing, means that you will inevitably have to cut your meal short in order to go table-to-table. Let’s think about that. Most of you have spent so much time planning the menu! Most of you say, “The reception – food, drink, dancing – is the most important part.” Shouldn’t you enjoy your first meal as husband and wife as well, instead of hurrying from group to group?

There are lots of different places you can fit a receiving line in your wedding timeline. Immediately after the ceremony; as guests move from cocktail hour into the dining room; or even a reverse receiving line where the newly-married couple can greet each pew in the church as they leave. Check with your planner to see which scenario is best for you. Hopefully now you can see why a receiving line is a good idea. By all means, make sure you greet each of your guests personally!

Sarah and Bill’s wedding: Baker Cabin Pioneer Church and Wild Bill’s Casino

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

We were pleased to work again in August with Lenny and Bob of Studio 98, this time for a wedding at Baker Cabin Pioneer Church in Canby, Oregon; and reception following at Wild Bill's Casino in NE Portland.  The ceremony had a traditional country wedding atmosphere, with Rev. Kevin Yell presiding.

While the bride and groom took photos around town, the guests moved on to the Oasis Room at Wild Bill's for a Las Vegas-themed reception and barbecue buffet from Buster's Texas BBQ. 

Sarah wrote to us afterwards, “My parents thought you did great and they loved how the whole thing reflected my personality, staying true to who I am. I still can't believe how well it turned out.” Congratulations again, to Sarah and Bill!

Also, many thanks to these partners in collaboration: Flowers: Studio Del Fiore, Music: Notes of Celebration, DJ: Wild Bill's in-house, Videography: Solstice Video, Transportation: Lucky Limousine (inbound), bride and groom's classic car (getaway)

Baker-cabin-pioneer-church-wedding

Piece-of-cake-wedding-cake-wild-bills-portland

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Many thanks to Studio 98 for the images.

Related articles
{ Portland Wedding Venues } Planner's Roundup – 5 sites that allow outside catering
Real Winter Wedding Feature – Sarah & Neil
{ From the Archives } Mindy and Ashish's Garba and Indian Wedding at Bridal Veil Lakes, Oregon

Find something interesting? Reblog with Typepad & Typepad Micro

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

If you've been looking for a good microblogging service, or if you already use something like Tumblr or Posterous, you might find this interesting, from SixApart, the makers of Typepad:

This morning we launched TypePad Micro. Micro is a free streamlined blog, powered by TypePad, and optimized for social media.

via everything.typepad.com

You can now microblog any Portland Wedding Coordinator content that you find interesting with your followers on your very own free Micro blogs. Or you can use a Micro blog to save clippings of stuff you find interesting on the web, and share it with your friends and fellow planning buddies. And when you see the "Reblog" button at the bottom of any Typepad blog post, you can easily add that link to your own Typepad Micro or regular blog.

Here are some other wedding and design bloggers on Typepad that you may enjoy: Sparkliatti, Ritzy Bee, The Bride's Cafe, Oh So Beautiful Paper, Always a Blogsmaid, Weddingistas, and Celebrity Wedding Buzz. So you can see, Portland Wedding Coordinator is in great company! (Did I miss anyone? Feel free to shout yourself out in the comments!)

Couples AND wedding professionals:  Are you using microblogging in any form to meet those blogging needs when you have those "in-between" posts that are too long for Facebook or Twitter, but not long enough to merit a "real" post on your main blog? Share your thoughts here.

Make it a White Friday instead, and set your wedding planning intentions

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

Wait! Before you make one more Black Friday purchase, stop for a minute! If you're recently engaged and hoping to have your wedding in 2010, why not take a little time this holiday weekend to set your intentions around what's really important for your celebration? A little pre-planning before the plunge of wedding shopping can go a long way.

1. Have your families met yet? Ideally, your families will meet before the wedding day. FIgure out a way to make this happen if it hasn't already.

2. Have you set your budget yet? There are many budget planning tools online, or you can email me with the subject line "I read your 11/27 blog" and I'll send you the one I use for my full-service clients — free!

3. Have you started on your guest list? Your budget will give you an idea of how many guests you can have. It's not a perfect rule of thumb, but just to get you started, consider on the casual end (in the Portland, Oregon area), a budget of $50-100 per person; then, a more elaborate celebration will have a budget from $100-500 per person. Reducing your guest list is the easiest way to reduce your budget.

(Of course, all you really need is your intended and the witnesses, but these guidelines should work for anyone hoping to host a celebration with more than a dinner-party number of guests and some kind of food, drink, and entertainment.)

Another way to think about budget is to consider a favorite restaurant whose food you would love to have at your wedding. What did you pay per person the last time you went there on a date and had appetizers, dinner, and a few drinks? Take that number and double it (in order to budget 50% on catering and 50% on the other things like planning, venue rental, entertainment, documentation, printing, etc) and that can be a rough budget for you.

4. Have you discussed your shared vision with your fiance(e)? On The 2000 Dollar Wedding Blog, Sara Cotner discusses how she and her fiance "started with the end in mind". No matter what your wedding budget might be, this is great advice.

So take a few moments during this holiday weekend to be thankful for this exciting time, and to set your intentions and get your wedding planning started right. Who knows–maybe eliminating one Black Friday impulse purchase will allow you to get something you really hoped for for the wedding.